A New Heartland

Women, Modernity, and the Agrarian Ideal in America

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, American, Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Gender Studies, Women&, History, Americas, United States, 20th Century
Cover of the book A New Heartland by Janet Galligani Casey, Oxford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Janet Galligani Casey ISBN: 9780190623579
Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication: April 16, 2009
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: Janet Galligani Casey
ISBN: 9780190623579
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication: April 16, 2009
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

Modernity and urbanity have long been considered mutually sustaining forces in early twentieth-century America. But has the dominance of the urban imaginary obscured the importance of the rural? How have women, in particular, appropriated discourses and images of rurality to interrogate the problems of modernity? And how have they imbued the rural-traditionally viewed as a locus for conservatism-with a progressive political valence? Touching on such diverse subjects as eugenics, reproductive rights, advertising, the economy of literary prizes, and the role of the camera, A New Heartland demonstrates the importance of rurality to the imaginative construction of modernism/modernity; it also asserts that women, as objects of scrutiny as well as agents of critique, had a special stake in that relation. Casey traces the ideals informing America's conception of the rural across a wide field of representational domains, including social theory, periodical literature, cultural criticism, photography, and, most especially, women's rural fiction ("low" as well as "high"). Her argument is informed by archival research, most crucially through a careful analysis of The Farmer's Wife, the single nationally distributed farm journal for women and a little known repository of rural American attitudes. Through this broad scope, A New Heartland articulates an alternative mode of modernism by challenging orthodox ideas about gender and geography in twentieth-century America.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Modernity and urbanity have long been considered mutually sustaining forces in early twentieth-century America. But has the dominance of the urban imaginary obscured the importance of the rural? How have women, in particular, appropriated discourses and images of rurality to interrogate the problems of modernity? And how have they imbued the rural-traditionally viewed as a locus for conservatism-with a progressive political valence? Touching on such diverse subjects as eugenics, reproductive rights, advertising, the economy of literary prizes, and the role of the camera, A New Heartland demonstrates the importance of rurality to the imaginative construction of modernism/modernity; it also asserts that women, as objects of scrutiny as well as agents of critique, had a special stake in that relation. Casey traces the ideals informing America's conception of the rural across a wide field of representational domains, including social theory, periodical literature, cultural criticism, photography, and, most especially, women's rural fiction ("low" as well as "high"). Her argument is informed by archival research, most crucially through a careful analysis of The Farmer's Wife, the single nationally distributed farm journal for women and a little known repository of rural American attitudes. Through this broad scope, A New Heartland articulates an alternative mode of modernism by challenging orthodox ideas about gender and geography in twentieth-century America.

More books from Oxford University Press

Cover of the book Intellectual Property: A Very Short Introduction by Janet Galligani Casey
Cover of the book Archimedes To Hawking : Laws Of Science And The Great Minds Behind Them by Janet Galligani Casey
Cover of the book Ottoman Empire and Islam: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide by Janet Galligani Casey
Cover of the book Theory, Method, Sustainability, and Conflict by Janet Galligani Casey
Cover of the book The Art of Re-enchantment by Janet Galligani Casey
Cover of the book Routine Activity Theories: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide by Janet Galligani Casey
Cover of the book Helping Parents with Challenging Children Positive Family Intervention Parent Workbook by Janet Galligani Casey
Cover of the book Consequences of Contact by Janet Galligani Casey
Cover of the book Contemporary Skepticism: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide by Janet Galligani Casey
Cover of the book The Beauty Bias : The Injustice Of Appearance In Life And Law by Janet Galligani Casey
Cover of the book Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction by Janet Galligani Casey
Cover of the book Islamic Finance: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide by Janet Galligani Casey
Cover of the book A Nation of Outsiders by Janet Galligani Casey
Cover of the book Libertarianism by Janet Galligani Casey
Cover of the book Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice by Janet Galligani Casey
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy